Despite being depleted by injuries over the last few weeks, the Amsterdam Mohawks clinched the PGCBL regular season East Division title in resounding fashion, slugging out 14 runs on 20 hits to cruise past the Adirondack Trail Blazers, 14-3, at Shuttleworth Park on Friday night.

The win gives Amsterdam home field advantage through the 1st and 2nd rounds of the PGCBL playoffs, and they could clinch home field advantage throughout the entire playoffs with a win in either of their remaining games, or a Jamestown loss in any of its remaining games.

Chris Hamilton (Stony Brook) went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs, 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored, and Toby Welk (Penn State Berks) went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI’s to help secure the victory for the Mohawks. Riley Schaefer (Texas Lutheran) went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI’s to lead Adirondack.

Amsterdam got the scoring started early, as a couple of bases loaded walks and an RBI fielder’s choice by Toby Welk would put the Mohawks up 3 to 0.

The Mohawks would then break open the flood gates in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring 6 runs on 8 hits, highlighted by home runs from Toby Welk and Chris Hamilton, and an RBI single by Dylan Reynolds. The 6-run inning would balloon Amsterdam’s lead to 9-0.

Amsterdam added 3 more runs in the 5th on a Chris Hamilton 2-run round-tripper, and another RBI double by Dylan Reynolds.

The Trailblazers would get on the board in the top of the 6th with an RBI double by Riley Schaefer, but the Mohawks would answer in the bottom half of the innings, plating 2 more runs on a 2-RBI single by Dalton Skelton (Louisiana Tech).

Adirondack would get two runs back on a Riley Schaefer RBI groundout and a Zach Zschering (Adrian) RBI single, but that would be all the Trail Blazers could muster.

The win goes to Morgan McSweeney (Wake Forest), who went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on only 1 hit, walking 4 and striking out 8. The loss goes to Jacob VanBeber (SUNY Poly).

The Mohawks will have an off day on Saturday before traveling to Newark on Sunday, with that game scheduled for a 7:05 PM first pitch. The Trail Blazers will travel to Siena Field on Saturday to take on the Albany Dutchmen in a doubleheader, with the first game scheduled for 3:00 PM.